Don't forget to get vaccinated against the flu, COVID-19 and RSV: Quebec pharmacists

Pharmacist Kim Nguyen prepares to administer a COVID-19 vaccine. (Melissa Phillip/Houston Chronicle via AP)

Quebec pharmacists are reminding people eligible for vaccination to consider doing so amid a rise in cases of respiratory viruses and overflowing hospital emergency rooms.

The Association québécoise des pharmaciens propriétaires (AQPP) is inviting Quebecers to get vaccinated against COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Benoit Morin, the association's president, points out that since the start of the fall vaccination campaign, more than one million doses of the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in pharmacies.

Nevertheless, he laments the fact that, according to recent figures by the Quebec Health Ministry, around 50 per cent of people aged 70 and over have still not made an appointment or received their vaccines.

Morin points out that the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines are free for everyone, and patients can make appointments via the Clic-Santé portal or on their pharmacy website.

The association adds that other vaccines are available in pharmacies, such as the pneumococcal vaccine, open to people aged 65 and over, and the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, available to people aged 60 and over but is not covered by the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ).

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 13, 2023.